


A Sleepless Night in Ishgard

by TenYearsLate



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Comedy, Gen, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 04:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15404646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenYearsLate/pseuds/TenYearsLate
Summary: The city may be peaceful now, but one resident still feels a chill.





	A Sleepless Night in Ishgard

Ishgard was quieter, safer now, but still the sleepless nights persisted.

Tea helped, sometimes. Other times, reaching for a good book did the trick. Still, there were some nights, like tonight, where nothing would settle the man's heart but fresh air and movement.

So tonight he moved. Through the wide streets where the noble houses dwelled, past the Cathedral and the Tribunal, through empty marketplaces. He even found his way to the alleyways of the Brume, where a few short years ago a man of his standing would fear for his gil at best and his safety at worst. But he had a knack for moving unseen, and with no dragons baying at the gates the streets of Ishgard saw more Knights on patrol than ever.

_You are safe,_ he told himself. _It won't happen again. He isn't coming back._

All evidence supported his mental assertion; but every far-off cannon shot, or sound of breaking glass, or rushing crowd - sometimes even a raised voice - set his heart racing. Part of him just could not accept the facts before him. No matter what he told himself, those familiar words would creep in to the back of his mind, sinking in their claws like a beast on a Lalafell.

_Hildibrand Manderville is still out there somewhere._

Tonight's wandering brought Inspector Briardien at last to the Last Vigil, offering him a spectacular view of the city under the moonlight. Gazing into the cloudless sky, he remembered the last time he had seen his erstwhile associate - soaring into the heavens at high speed, his sweet, devoted, _oh so stupid_ assistant sprinting after him. That should have been the end of it - by all accounts it _was_ the end of it. He never saw any of the Manderville clan again after that day.

He took steps to keep it that way. More than once he had turned down potentially lucrative clients because the case would require him to travel to the Manderville Gold Saucer. The risk of encountering its owner, Godbert Manderville, once again was far too great.

Briardien shuddered a bit at this thought. Some nights, when he closed his eyes, he could still see Godbert's pectoral muscles, _twitching_.

He had experienced a jolt of panic when working a case in Ishgard and bumping into the Warrior of Light. Unsurprising, in retrospect, given the world-shaking events in the city at the time. To his relief, Hildibrand was not with them. The two of them worked together to solve the case at the Scholasticate, and to Briardien's surprise and considerable relief, the Warrior of Light proved to be an able investigator in the absence of Hildibrand's... activities. Briardien appreciated their level head, sharp eye and pathological inability to say no to a request. The two of them parted ways after the case was closed.

A strong breeze cut through Briardien's coat, and he shivered once more. He had remained in Ishgard since then, buried in his work, but never truly at ease. Sometimes he caught himself gazing upwards, as if expecting a Hyur-shaped blur to soar overhead. Other times he had flinched from Miqo'te ladies who passed him in the street, briefly mistaking them for Hildibrand's assistant. Even in the last hours of the Dragonsong War, as Nidhogg stormed the Steps of Faith and Briardien took shelter in the city, a small part of him expected to see Hildibrand charge around the corner into the battle, waving the Treaty-Blade like a club and clad in the tatters of his ridiculous suit, or possibly a dress.

He sighed. _This will not do._ The sleepless nights were beginning to impact on his work. He needed an escape. He needed a holiday, somewhere far away, where no Manderville would ever drag him into their bizarre, infuriating world.

_Yes, that's exactly what I need._ With that, he turned on his heels, full of vigour, and marched off to his lodgings, to gather his belongings and decide on a destination.

_Kugane, perhaps._


End file.
